T-Mobile employee sues after HR interrogated her about her OnlyFans account.
Caitlyn Stevens was attempting to report a male colleague for threatening her physically.
A sales representative at a T-Mobile store in Fort Worth, Texas, has filed a discrimination lawsuit against the company after an employee of the human resources department questioned her inappropriately about having an OnlyFans account.
Caitlyn Stevens had been employed by T-Mobile for nearly seven years when a male colleague became enraged with her for the way she handled a customer interaction, according to the complaint. He approached her “physically aggressively,” prompting a coworker to intervene and prevent the man from striking her.
Stevens informed the store manager of the incident. Rather than discipline the male colleague who allegedly attempted to harm her, the manager allegedly relocated Stevens to a different location. The location experienced decreased foot traffic, which resulted in decreased sales for employees, Stevens says. “I felt it was unjust that I was taken to a slower location in light of what had just occurred,” she explains in an interview with The Verge.
When Stevens lodged a complaint with Human Resources, a member of the team called her and began probing her personal life, including “whether she had a’sugar daddy’ and whether she had an OnlyFans account.” Stevens was taken aback. “I immediately began to cry,” she explains to The Verge. “I informed him that I was uncomfortable, and he continued to ask questions.”
According to Stevens, the male human resources representative inquired, “We’ve heard you have an OnlyFans account. Is that true?” Then he added, “We’ve heard that people have seen pictures of you in your underwear.”
Stevens asserts that the questions felt infringing. “I felt sexually harassed and uneasy,” she explains. “The nature of the questions is not acceptable when I am literally reporting a physical assault.”
Vincent White, a partner at White, Hilferty and Albanese, Stevens’ attorney, asserts that the incident demonstrates T-Mobile favored Stevens’ male colleague over her. “T-Mobile chose to support a man with a history of workplace violence over a woman who was a seven-year high performer at the company,” he said in a statement. “While Caitlyn Stevens’ personal life had nothing to do with store operations, threatening coworkers with violence jeopardizes the workplace’s productivity and well-being.”
This is not the first time a woman has been publicly humiliated or subjected to retaliation for having an OnlyFans account. In April 2020, BuzzFeed News reported that an Indiana mechanic was fired after her bosses discovered she was making amateur pornography on OnlyFans on the side. In December 2020, the New York Post attempted to “out” an EMT who was eking out an existence through OnlyFans (whatever the New York Post was hoping to accomplish here backfired — the publication was widely criticized for “doxxing someone simply for attempting to earn a living,” as Rolling Stone put it). The incidents demonstrate how far some businesses will go to exert control over their employees’ lives while also refusing to pay them enough to maintain a single source of income.
Stevens declined a settlement offer in order to speak out about the incident. “I believe she took a much more difficult path here, but she recognizes that this is indicative of a larger trend that many women are experiencing and is committed to changing the culture through her story,” says Ariella Steinhorn, founder of Lioness Strategies, a communications firm that is assisting Stevens in her case.
Stevens has requested a medical leave of absence due to the situation’s stress.
